Geo-Tagging

Fujifilm is about to release its first rugged digital camera to feature GPS geo-tagging of images, the FinePix XP30. In addition to being water-, dust-, shock- and freeze-proof, the compact camera can guide you from your current location to a point where you snapped a particularly interesting shot, and use collected data to create a travel map, using your photos as illustrations. The camera can also record high definition video and includes a number of user-assist features to help capture the best shots without too much effort. Read More

The geotagging capabilities of modern cameras means photographers no longer have to go through the boring task of jotting down the location of a picture on the back of photos. Unfortunately, interference when taking pictures indoors or even outside amongst a forest of skyscrapers can render the geotagging feature inoperative. The latest model to join Casio’s EXILIM Hi-Zoom lineup, the EX-H20G, overcomes this problem by using a Hybrid GPS system that combines GPS with a three-way accelerometer and direction sensor to track a user’s last known satellite-acquired position against map data stored in the camera’s memory. It then checks every 10 minutes until it can reconnect to a satellite signal. Read More

Before you proudly go posting photos of your Ming vase online, you should be aware that computer-savvy burglars can likely use that photo to find out where you live. The same goes for photos or videos of your kids, yourself, or anything else that you don’t want strangers knowing how to locate. The practice of tracking people via their posted images is an example of “cybercasing”, and is possible because many digital cameras and smart phones, including the iPhone, automatically geotag their images by embedding the longitude and latitude at which they were taken. Even when uploaded to a website, the images still retain this information. By plugging the coordinates into a service like Google Street View, getting an address or an identifying landmark is entirely possible. Read More

With increasing numbers of people accessing the Internet on mobile devices there is a call for a quick, easy way to sort locally relevant content from the mountain of online data. To address this need HP is dipping its toes in the geo-tagging waters with Gloe – a concept service that allows users to find, recommend and contribute locally relevant web content on mobile devices. Read More

Another landmark in the unrelenting evolution of the digital camera was reached this week when Samsung announced two 12.2 mega-pixel point-and-shoot digital cameras with 15x optical zooms. The top of the line camera, to be known as the WB650 in Europe and the HZ35W in the U.S., sports a 3.0” AMOLED display, Dual Image Stabilisation (both optical and digital image stabilizers), a GPS (for geo-tagging) and 720p video at 30fps. It’s a stunning achievement to fit all this into a compact camera body just 30mm thick and with the PMA Show approaching, one wonders if this camera will still be winning the “mine’s bigger than yours” contest a month from now. Expect it in the showroom in March. Read More

Seems one LCD display per camera is not enough for Samsung, which has just unveiled two compact digital cameras that feature dual LCD screens – one on the back and one on the front. The extra displays found on the TL225 and TL220 are designed to make turning the camera on yourself a bit more reliable than the "hold at arm’s length and hope" method usually employed when taking self-portraits and profile picture shots. And for those after a digital camera that boasts unprecedented connectivity, Samsung has also unveiled the CL65 with geo-tagging, Bluetooth 2.0, DLNA, and Wi-Fi capabilities. Read More

Samsung might have claimed line honors with the first 12-megapixel camera phone in the form of the Pixon 12, but LG are snapping at their heels with the LG GC990 Louvre, a 12 megapixel camera phone that got its first public showing at the Korea Products Exhibition in Warsaw of all places. Read More

It looks like Nokia has pulled out all the stops in delivering a potentially paradigm shifting N86 cameraphone with a camera that they claim has SLR-like optics and is good enough to replace your current compact digital one. With 8GB of internal storage, and a lens system from Carl Zeiss, this device can capture still images at 8 megapixels, as well as 640x480 video 30 frames per second. The camera has a F2.4 aperture (so it's able to handle low light conditions) and includes a high intensity dual LED flash. Nokia is also using the internal GPS in the device to geo-tag all the photos. Read More